The Bergman Chronicles

A Year in Books

2012-02-18T04:47:00.000-08:00

I LOVE to read! The story goes, that I was only able to get my own library card when I could write my name. So, at the age of 18 months I wrote my name in giant toddler letters and opened my own library account.

Every week we would walk the two blocks down to where the Bookmobile would arrive and we'd exchange the bag full of books for another collection of Ezra Jack Keats ("mine favorite author") and go home to devour them.

I always remember having book bags bulging full. Even on road trips I'd have a bag full of books to help the miles pass quicker. Some of my closest friends were George, Babar and Corduroy.

30 item limits at the library make me feel constrained.

So, it goes without saying that seeing the library here onboard the AFM made my heart leap. With 1000 new crew members every year we end up with a pretty decent collection of hand-me-down books. And even though we're living life in a different way than before, I still find the time to recharge with a book.

I started keeping track of our readings this year in my journal. Not only do I read for myself, but I also read aloud to the girls at bedtime. It's not unusual for me to have five or six books going at the same time.

Sometimes I get to the end of a book and feel disappointment that it came to an end. Sometimes, I feel relief. (I usually feel committed enough to finish a book - though this year I have added the freedom to walk away if I really can't get into it by halfway). Other times I am inspired to change my life, my behavior, my thought patterns, or my future.

Once I find a book that I can't stop thinking about, I want to share that treasure. I recently was introduced to Good Reads, an amazing book lover's website that can provide suggestions for you based on your interests, books you've enjoyed, and you can see what your friends are reading. If this list leaves you hungry for more, check it out. I had been wanting to do a Book blog post even prior to finding Good Reads, so here are my favorite reads from the past 12 months:

Books on Africa:

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis. A-mazing! This book is still rocking my world as the account of a 19-year old who went to Uganda on a trip, and Uganda took over her heart and Jesus is changing her world. A book that inspires me, challenges me, and makes me wonder what is next.

The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinki - fascinating memoirs of a Polish journalist who traveled throughout Africa for 30 years. Lots of insight into life in Africa.

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill - a novel that reads like a historical biography of one woman's journey through slavery, starting in the region around Sierra Leone, traveling to the Western Hemisphere, and her return back to Africa at the end of her life.

(I didn't read this one this past year, but it's worth mentioning since we are on the theme...) Ishmael Beah's account of life as a child soldier in the civil war of Sierra Leone in A Long Way Gone is well worth the read.

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara is another account of being a child in the civil war of Sierra Leone. The writing is simple and childlike, but appropriately so, as you can envision Mariatu as the child she was at the time of her trauma.

Autobiography/Memoir:

My Seventh Monsoon by Naomi Reed - a woman's journey on missions - before children, and what it looks like with a family also as they learn to live and love in the Himalayas as a family.

Jungle Child by Sabine Kuegler - a story of a missionary child and her family's journey and her own struggle to identify which culture she belongs in.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo - true story of a boy's journey to heaven and back. I enjoyed this one much more than The Boy Who Went to Heaven, though they both have much of the same content (and their marketing campaign makes them look like the same book!).

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller - lessons about life, a sequel to Blue Like Jazz and the journey of it becoming a movie, and Donald letting go of what he envisioned.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - lessons learned and shared for his family when the author (professor at Carnegie Mellon) learns that the end of his life here is near.

Making Jesus Lord by Loren Cunningham goes beyond the salvation of Jesus to model what it looks like to be a servant of Christ, written by the incredibly humble founder of Youth With A Mission.

The Classics:

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. This is a classic for a reason!

The characters pop off the page within the first three paragraphs and I was hooked. Oh, Scarlett, you are a piece of work! I don't know why it took me so long to find this one on the shelves.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy- drama, scandal, family strain in the backdrop of 19th century Russia. This is timeless literature I was thrilled to discover.

Children's Literature (favorite Read Alouds from this year):

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien is a delightful read with many lessons that translate to human life about the rat race we subject ourselves to.

The Bear Nobody Wanted by Janet & Allan Ahlberg - a sweet journey of a bear as he gets over his conceited ways and realize what it means to be loved, similar to Velveteen Rabbit or The Incredible Journey of Edward Tulane.

The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting was virtually NOTHING like the Dr. Doolittle movies that we have seen with Eddie Murphy - great children's fiction at it's best (ranked up there with Pippi Longstocking and Swiss Family Robinson).

Fiction: Action:

Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins. I know there's a lot of hype about the movie coming out, but this trilogy is worth the read (well, at least the first two - the third drug on a bit).

Fiction/Drama:

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (this is a movie, too! I'm a little behind- I just heard about the book a few months ago!) Similar to Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Sophie's Choice, Schindler's List, a moving story about German Occupied Paris and what happened to the children there during Vel D'hiv.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton is a beautiful story of three generations and the mysteries that link them together despite the time gap.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (movie also in the works!!) is a delightful read about life in the Channel Islands during WWII and how the small community coped (and thrived).

Still Alice by Lisa Genova, a novel that reads like a true story of a brilliant woman who suffers from early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Moving, challenging (and to be honest) and a book that gives me a bit of paranoia about my brain losing it!

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin- one of my favorite Christian authors brings another book of redemption, restitution and balance.

Check out my other favorites and make your recommendations on Good Reads!

How Patients are Found

2012-02-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Screening day.

As a transitory organization that meanders from country to country like a band of gypsies, we have some exceptional challenges that stationary organizations, hospitals, and clinics don’t face. If you are permanently at an address, those with medical needs come to you. They know where you can be found.

Word gets out – and spreads its way across the nation like oxygenated blood – flowing through the rainforests, across the savanna, and from person to person through the endless transactions of water sachets, motorbike taxi rides, rice and street meat purchases.

Mercy Ships has to make the most of our time by getting the word out quickly in hopes to be able to complete all steps during our short stay: locate the patients, assess their medical condition, match them up with our surgical schedule, perform the operation, allow them time to have therapy, heal and recover before we head on our way to the next port.

Mass screening day has become a very key component in this process. Using several radio stations, we attempt to get the word out quickly and to as many as possible providing the answers to all the questions.

Last Wednesday, February 1st was the day we had been preparing for.
The first crew left the ship the day before – we set up the chairs, tables, walked through the logistics of the stations, what if scenarios, and began final preparations.

Wednesday morning departures started at 4:00am, while it was still dark. Even with abbreviated sleep, the excitement and anticipation for the day was palpable.
We drove in convoy formation through the town and arrived shortly after 5:00 in the morning. The line of people who waited over night numbered in the thousands already.

Each crew member knew where they were to report, and we made our way to our stations.

Even us non-medical people have a place at screening day - data entry is an important step in the process as they are issued their patient ID numbers, given a card with their information on it that allows them entrance into the port.

The Gendarme are present to assist with security.

And as the sun comes up, the line continues to grow. An estimated 3500 in total were queued.

Our own crew helped with security (as well as a little entertainment). In the case of this little girl, she was terrified of this big YOVO (white man).

Keith is the man at the gate - with the little paper ticket they prove they entered through the appropriate gate (an issue we worried about since the entire perimeter has a short fence and could have been breached easily).

While they wait in line, the kids receive special attention- bubbles, chalk, drawings, puppets and the like.

Water is distributed to all waiting in line - Coca-Cola West Africa partnered with us for this event and provided 3000 bottled waters to collaborate with us.

Dan was in charge of overseeing all medical logistics for the day - a big job with lots of people to manage.

Pre-pre-screeners: work the line outside of the stadium compound identifying those with conditions we are unable to treat.
Pre-screeners: once they come into the gate, they are assessed by a medical team to determine if this condition is something we are equipped and able to address.
Registration: working with the help of translators, we record each potential patient’s personal contact information.

Histories: nurses work with our translators to take medical assessments of each patients – blood pressure, temperature, pulse, history of the illness/condition.

Specialities: the patients are sent to their respective areas – maxillo-facial tumors, cleft lips/palates, or bumps head to the Max-Fax Room, burn victims or those with keloids to the Plastics Room, hernias, goiters and lipomas to the General Surgeon’s Room, and women with vaginal fistulas were directed to the VVF Room. In each of these rooms they are seen by surgeons and or doctors who are further able to determine the need for surgery, cause of condition, and what the next step of treatment should be.

Another potential stop after the speciality surgeons is the lab - some blood is drawn on site and taken back to the ship's lab with the next returning vehicle for it to be processed.

Biopsies are another crucial step in determining if the tumor or growth is something we are able to treat. In a regular sized hospital you may do 1-2 biopsies a day. Our team did 40 on screening day!

While many people come with medical issues not visible on the surface, others are obvious. For some, coming to screening is the bravest thing they have done in years - hiding behind the curtains of pitch black night, foraging for food in the dark, and staying out of sight for shame of their condition.

Also onsite were our photographers, videographer, and writers as a big part of Mercy Ships is getting the word OUT so people can help share the burden.

Baby Simi Julie getting ready for her pre-operation photo.

She's gorgeous, cleft lip or not. (She's actually already had her surgery!)

Unfortunately, we are not able to help everyone. First, we have limits on time, space, surgical schedule, and specialties. We will never be able to operate on all the hernias we see in a country. The list is just far too great. Some people present with malignant tumors, and we do not have the resources for chemo or radiation on the ship so we must refer them to outside sources. Others have extreme conditions that surgery cannot address.
At any point in this process, if the answer is “no surgery,” we inform the hopeful patient and direct them toward the prayer team, waiting with open arms to pray for them, embrace them, and love on them.

But for those that we can schedule, these are the beautiful faces that greet them - our OR supervisors who take those blessed "pink sheets" and transfer the information into the master schedule of our six operating rooms - coordinating surgeons and their specialties, ward bed space, nursing staff, anesthesiologists, and physical time in the OR to make it all happen.

So, we do what we we do with gladness...

Sunburn, and tired feet...

...and still some cousinly smiles at the end of the day...

...making sure no one gets left behind when all the vehicles depart.

For the chance to bring about a new way of life for her.

And him.

And this family too.

Sales Department On the Ship

2012-01-29T01:52:00.000-08:00

Do you work EVERYWHERE??

I hear this question a lot. I don't have a position onboard where I am locked into one location with one task all week. This works for me - I like variety!

Most mornings I am working for the hospital support staff - helping with the patient census at the Hope Center, tracking waiting list patients, finding charts, filling out financial forms for patient transport from up country, etc. In the afternoons I help in the pharmacy - counting pills or updating our drug inventory spreadsheet.

One day a week I am in the Human Resources office helping with new crew orientation forms, updating staff reviews, making sure everyone has a profile biography on our intranet site, and any other projects that Marianne, our amazing HR Manager, can find for me.

Marianne, HR Manager, with Fatu "Cheshire" this summer at a football game (and me in the background! :))

This fall I also was found at the snack bar or the ship shop. Our good friend, Herma (from Gateway), pulled a muscle in her neck after overdoing it at work so the Sales Manager, Jeff (also from Gateway), asked if I could fill in.

Now I can see how Herma overdid it at work!

The Ship Shop is open every weekday and in it you can purchase limited grocery staples, toiletries, Mercy Ships branded items, and some local crafts that Jeff buys from the vendors at the craft market and sells at no profit, for the convenience of those serving onboard very short-term (many surgeons and anesthesiologists come for 7-10 day visits), and don't have a chance to brave the crowded adventure to the craft market.

The volunteers who work in the ship shop get lots of exercise, as the containers are lowered by crane down to deck three - then they are removed from the pallets, inventoried, repalleted (after getting around the big metal barriers on the floor and hauled down the hall of the hospital. Some go down to deck two (hand carried down a precarious flight of stairs into the doldrums of the ship), where surplus non-meltable foods and household items are stored. Candy and chocolate are taken up to deck five, where the ship shop and snack bar are located. And sodas are taken up to deck six, to be put in a refrigerated room in the galley.

Here is one pallet of freshly arrived candies, crackers, chips, and otherwise unavailable items in Sierra Leone. This is in the holding area at the front of deck three. And the fun work begins.

Of course, we don't have new containers every day. Maybe only once every three or four weeks. We get containers from Holland (frozen and refrigerated foods, 220 volt electrical items, medical supplies, etc), and other containers from Texas (Sams Club goodies, medical supplies, etc.).

On the days that it's not a "Container Day" it is just restocking- carrying empty laundry baskets from deck five down the stairs (16 steps, then 16 more, then up 3 steps, then down 18) to deck two to restock all the items that have run out of the small shop. Then back up (up 18, down 3, up 16, up 16) with FULL laundry baskets - to restock the shelves.

In addition to restocking, we man the coffee bar (playing Starbucks barista), the snack bar side, and the ship shop. It's a job full of muscle power and sweat, but a fun one as you get to interact with most of the crew. Kudos to the Sales Team!!

Dancing with Your Bible on Your Head

2012-01-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday we attended church at "The Fishing Village Church." This is the affectionate nickname of the church that was born in 1995 with the help of some crew members from the m/v Anastasis making connections with locals who lived in the fishing village just down from the port a few kilometers. Pastor James was at that time working in the dockyards as an engineer, when God put a heavy call on his life to guide a congregation closer to Him.

Some 17 years later, in a large concrete building with openings for windows but nothing to impede the sea breeze, ornate cement pillars, and several wooden benches, we had the chance to join this humble church body for celebration.

This was their main church building just two years ago,

and here is a photo of the future building under construction in the summer of 2010.
Thanks, Marty & Catherine for the photos.

Here is the outside of the church how it looks now, in 2012.

Advertised in our activities book onboard the ship as "an English speaking church," the Eglise International Missione du Christ was filled with lively intercessory prayer when our troop of five Land Rovers chugged up, spinning donuts through the loose sand that "paved the way" to the building. Upon arrival we first noticed the canopied area where many small children were decked out in their beautiful hand-tailored church outfits, and their dress shoes (while we were even sporting flip-flops!).

Inside the main church building, three young girls (probably 9-11 years old) provided the rhythm that echoed throughout the building by drumming on beaded gourds and dancing as if rhythm was the air they breathe.

After a few songs in Ewe, the local language which most people speak in homes (thought it's not taught in schools), we were witnesses to some, should we say, interesting dances.

First the ladies of the church (who were seated in the rows of pews to the left side of the building) started dancing around in a circle at the front of the sanctuary. They were waving handkerchiefs, shrugging their shoulders, and doing what we affectionately refer to as the West African chicken dance.

Next up was the men (who as you might have guessed were seated on the right side of the building) came up to strut their stuff.

Cuter than all else were the next two groups of Sunday school classes- some of the children as young as two - who were guided up by their teachers and chased like baby ducklings to stay in formation as they grooved around the floor in a circular motion.

After everyone had had their turn, an assortment of people from all over the church came up - some with their plastic lawn chairs on their heads, some purses, some bibles, and danced around with giant smiles on their faces.

Seeing that none of the yovos (white people) were moving out of their seats, the pastor stopped the worship band, and provided an explanation as to what all this craziness was.

He said that the words of the song reflected that of King David, who was not ashamed of dancing before the Lord. We give him our everything and whatever we offer up to Him is a sweet sacrifice. So, he beckoned for all the yovos from around the world to bring their Bibles and show their moves.

I wish I had a photo, but alas, I do not... (I am guessing that if a photo did exist, my wish would actually be 100% different!). But, we made our way to the front- some with pocketbooks, others with Bibles. My Bible has a fabric cover and I couldn't get it to balance on my head without some assistance, so I held it there and danced with the other arm.

I should probably mention that Dan had made friends with Pastor James on the ship prior to attending the service. So, when we arrived with our blonde children, Pastor James escorted us right up to the front of the church, where we sat in four plastic lawn chairs, facing the congregation. It felt a bit like being seated in thrones before our royal court. The girls, of course, were very nervous being on display like that, and now being asked to dance in front of the church wasn't helping.

But, fortunately, I think the yovos equaled the number of the Beninois and Togolese, so the embarrassment factor was limited. What's the difference between embarrassment and fun? Just a mindset, right? So, we embraced the fun.

After the dancing wrapped up, Marty Schwebel, one of the chaplains onboard shared a message on unity, which was translated from English into Ewe for the non-yovos in the crowd by Pastor James. As collectively the congregation represented South Africa, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, Benin, and Togo, it was definitely an appropriate topic.

We will certainly be making a return visit to this great church.

Setting Up Shop - I Mean Ship!

2012-01-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

We are in Togo - in the not so charming and not so quaint port town (and capital) of Lomé.

So, what are we doing if there aren't any patients? Are we just sitting around eating bon bons?

Hardly!

The ship's arrival and departure times are very full of activity and work.

Here's a look at one area that gets transformed: the dock.

This is what our dock looked like upon our arrival.

Once we are secured, the gangway must be lowered and secured to the entrance so we have a way of getting on and off. This happens almost immediately, so we can have our welcoming ceremony with whatever officials from the country have been involved in the work- usually the Minister of Health, sometimes a Vice-President, the port authorities, etc.

Once that has taken place, we begin the unloading and unpacking. Have you ever moved? Do you remember how much work it is to pack up? Well, luckily our house moves with us when we move, but the things that go on land have the same amount of work as moving house does.

The vehicles have to be craned off of the top of the ship and put onto land. The shipping containers and pallets loaded with the supplies that we use on the dock have to be as well.

Last year we had a modular home that was assembled that served as our eye building and our screening facility.

This year in addition to the two Alaska tents that will house the admissions area and rehabilitation, we have two large inflatable tents that will be home to outpatients and screening for the next five months.

First a platform had to be built with pallets and plywood to create a flat, stable surface for these tents (and a bit of protection from the rat infested dock (a port with ships coming in and out full of rice, wheat, fish, and other goodies is a rat's paradise. That bright blue container in the back is visible from our windows and we watch the rats come out from underneath it at night!).

These guys are part of a Mercy Team. Mercy Teams are short-term guests on the ship who come for 7-14 days with the focus of doing a special task, not just working a regular position on board. These guys have been here three times in the past year and help us with the set up and tear down of things like the dock and the hope center. They are true hard workers who have come wanting to put their muscles to the test.

Brainpower might be needed more than muscles to assemble these new tents - but luckily they have this too.

This looks like my worst nightmare. These are the parts of the Alaska Tents - for those of you like Dan, this looks like a 30 minute task. For those of you like me, this looks like tears, frustration and an endless puzzle!

Part one is done...

Part two...

And voila! The finished product. Here are the two Alaskas...

The two inflatables, meanwhile, are being laid out and ready for the magic moment.

And here's the final product.

A view of our dock from deck 7, right above our cabin. The covered open air canopies is where patients will wait for their appointments.

The beautiful thing about these tents isn't the fact that they are up, but the expectations that they hold. Hundreds of individuals from Togo and surrounding areas that make their way here in desperation will be seen by physicians to see if they are fit for a surgery that can be performed on the ship. Those that fit the bill will be registered, informed as to what will happen here, and prepared for their time with us. Following surgery they will be treated here - physical therapy, occupational therapy, wound care follow-up in outpatients, and more.

These tents hold a lot more than air right now. They hold the promise and hope for a new lease on life for so many. We are anxious to meet these precious ones.

This week we will be screening some that were on the waiting list from last year, and on Feb. 1st we will hold our mass screening downtown Lome to find the rest of those that we have the capacity to help. Join with us in praying that those in the greatest need will make their way to the right place.

Photo Memories

2012-01-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of living in community is sharing in goods! We don't need our own vacuum, iron, oven, microwave, set of tools- we can share.

Another thing we share is digital photos. One day if I could find the time and some amazing math skills, I would figure out how many digital pictures are taken by crew members in a given year. I'm so glad that the days of having to calculate how many rolls of film you should buy, and trying to judge which pictures are shutter-worthy are gone! You younger ones, ask your parents about this!

So, today as I was looking for the pictures to be uploaded from New Years I found a folder on the Transfer Drive in our computer lab called: Cheshire Home Photos. Nearly daily someone shares their photos from an excursion, event, or memorable moment so others can copy, burn, transfer to a jump drive, blog, tag, etc...

In this folder I found some treasures that made my day- so I wanted to share with you.

Michelle & Hawanatu

The girls dorm with some of their laundry hanging out to dry

My god-daughter Kadie

Michelle & Jalloh

Sidikie pretending to enjoy a ride in the van abandoned on the Cheshire Property

A glimpse at the glorious African sun

Three of the five Kamara children - two of home attend school at Cheshire. Haja, Isatu (wearing Kylie's shirt), and Foday (also wearing a Bergman hand me down)

Here are all five of the precious Kamara children: Foday, Kadie, Haja, Isatu & Aisha

The hardest worker you'll ever meet: Hassan. I love this photo.

The view toward the gate of the hills of Freetown

Life after the rainy season- the sun comes out and the plants put forth their blooms once again

Another artsy take of the property

A typical afternoon - we hang out, do a story, some songs, a craft, and play games.

Doctor Dick Quimby, our crew doctor, takes some time out of his busy schedule (and 24/7 being oncall) to visit Cheshire with us, and tenderly is helping Fatu with her painting

Isatu

Dr. Quimby also did some medical interviews with some who had been complaining of their ailments. Foday was laughing when being asked about the worms in his tummy.

Here is how Aisha would come to us - on the backs of a seven year old.

Big sister, Haja, taking care of baby Aisha

Aisha was a common feature these past few months- Haja or Kadie would bring baby sis and place her in the hands in a willing "Opoto" (white person) to hold for the remainder of the afternoon. I was only too glad to oblige.

I think Kadie and I were working out the details of confirmation here- how much money they needed to have their white dresses made, how would they get white shoes, veils, stocks (stockings), etc... This took place the night before confirmation

Some of the t-shirts you see in Africa make me laugh. This one actually originated in Cancun, so I had this picture taken in honor of my brother, Lucas. :) Sas was proud to wear this shirt!

And we'd make it home just in time to watch the sun setting on our home.

Oh Freetown, how I miss you.

Ringing...I Mean Singing in the New Year

2012-01-01T01:13:00.001-08:00

If you asked me at 7:00pm yesterday what I was going to do to celebrate New Years, I might have told you I wouldn't be awake to remember. After a day of girls' playdates coming and going and the sweet but tiring victory of a new jigsaw puzzle I was feeling lethargic, indifferent, and a little melancholic.

But, when the girls came in ready to make their masks for the Masquerade Ball, I got my game on again.

After some quick paper, metallic Sharpie and elastic string action we were ready to hit the dance floor.

Dance Parties on the ship are some of my favorite events. Not just because I can bust a move safely within an audience that protects me from (well, laughter, but also) getting hit on by creepy, intoxicated, overeager, girating hormones, but because I get to watch the girls come out of their shells. Watching them interact with their friends, their "aunties" & "uncles," teachers, role models in this fun environment is a joy. I've seen Kylie learn how to moonwalk, do the worm, and learn a bit of swing dancing with the help of our Australian friend, Nick, our Canadian friend, Jeff, and our Togolese friend, Kevin. These are the moments that make me smile and chime loudly in my heart that we are in a GREAT place for our family.

After more than two hours of dancing last night, the room was transformed back into the International Lounge and prepared for a special time of Creative Worship as we ushered in 2012. Um, do you mean a Prayer Meeting? For an hour? That sounds so.....BORING. Yeah, I think so too. But, this was not. It was a special time to be purposeful and reflect on things from this past year and listen in to God's leading for the next.

We had ten different stations set up around the room that we could navigate at our own leisure while we chewed on these areas of life:

What situations/wrongs am I still holding on to that I need to let go of? (with an example of the Two Monks)
How is my financial integrity - what are the needs I need to share to the Lord? Does money make me nervous or anxious? (2 Corinthians 8:2)
What areas do I want God to be more fruitful in this next year?
Where is my life tired, parched or dry? (John 4:14)
Where am I vulnerable & need to know God's protection? What verse would God give me to shield me? (2 Samuel 22:3)
Who can I encourage today to shine like a star? How can I be an encourager today? (Philippians 2:15)
What part of God's Word will sustain me in the year to come? (John 6:35)
How can I encourage my soul to trust in Jesus as my one and only anchor? (Hebrews 6:19)
Spend some time creatively expressing the story that God has put on your heart (poetry, drawing, painting, writing a song)
What is in God's vision for me for this next year? What is the direction that He wants to take me? How can I stay on course? (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

Young and old participated here, with tangible activities at most tables (write the situations on a paper and rip it up, eat a piece of fruit as a reminder, write an encouragement to someone and give it to them, paint a picture, write it out on a bookmark, take a coin as a reminder). We closed with a song as the clocks changed to 12:00am, 01/01/2012.

It was a powerful reminder of Majoring in the Majors. I'm not usually sentimental or good about wrapping up what is happening from one season to the next, but this evening was good for me, as God spoke some very clear, simple words that I will be putting into practice this year about priorities and expectations. I include all these prompts here in case you wanted to carve out some time to look at your 2012 as a new season as well.

Advent: Preparing for Christmas, on a ship... in Africa

2011-12-30T06:35:00.000-08:00

A big part of Christmas is the preparation and the expectations - which we could also take part in this year even in the heat and the different location.

The ship goes through a transformation as we decorate and adorn the walls, floors, bannisters and ceilings with reminders of the precious Gift we received some 2000 years ago. This wall became a large progressive nativity calendar.

The Christmas trees you see above the cafe (there are five of them in the middle of the picture) are secured for sail by fishing line and magnets to the ceiling, so while the boat swayed at 10-15 degree angles, the trees just dangled at the same spot.

Winter Wonderland is (apparently) an annual event onboard where the the crew get to join in the fun of preparations. Anyone who wants can run a booth - sell their handiwork and crafts, baked goods, open a photo booth, etc. The girls enjoyed Annika's booth where you could make your own gingerbread houses and have some lebkuchen and cider.

Savannah's house turned out quite nicely.

Savannah and Noel had a great time in the photo booth!

At the Winter Wonderland, the little girls (in matching outfits) performed their ballet songs, taught by the older girls (sitting down). Miss Shelly made their skirts and hair scrunchies with fabric she bought in Sierra Leone.

On a different day, we had a cookie bake. This was by far the easiest way of doing a cookie bake! Thank you, galley team! We bought kilos of dough (2.2 pounds for you Americans that forgot how to convert).

Simply, roll, cut, put on the tray, and they get whisked off to the galley ovens for baking.

Of course we didn't plan ahead and bring Christmas shapes, so ours were the most interesting of shapes:

Elephants, puppies, lions, butterflies and pigs - they need a Christmas too, right?

And yet on different evening we had several storytelling seminars and activities where people could share their talents. We listened to dramatic reinactments of Christmas stories, original plays (Jesus in the 21st Century) and also were treated by the Swedish family on board, the BÖrjessons, as they shared songs and the stories of Santa Lucia, with the star boys and all. :) It brought back some great memories from Bethlehem Covenant Church and the yearly practices and preparations for that special day.

So we prepare with some traditions - some new and some old, but our hearts do the same thing - they long for the peace and stillness among the busyness to hold that precious Savior in our arms and savor the meaning of His coming.

a large batik of the nativity scene

Sailing, Sailing, Over the Ocean Blue

2011-12-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks we have been packing up a hospital and preparing all departments and cabins for sail (imagine your house tipping back and forth at 10 degree angles - with the risk of tipping up to 28 degrees). In addition to this, we also must bring onboard all our supplies that have been on the dock- including our entire fleet of Land Rovers and Nissan Patrols. Here this Land Rover looks like a toy car, but it has some serious bulk to it.

In the days leading up to our departure we all stayed busy securing our cabins and packing down everything. We have a Christmas tree (tied to a string, and secured to the ceiling with a magnet). We have a fridge (bolted to the ceiling through a pulley system). Our cupboards are jam packed to prevent momentous movement and latched together with metal plates.

After everything was loaded and secured, our day of departure from Freetown reluctantly arrived. We had bid a teary farewell to our friends at Cheshire Home earlier in the week, and now it was time to say goodbye to our Sierra Leonean friends and some crew members heading off onto a new journey, away from Mercy Ships.

The tears streamed down our faces as we waved goodbye to these sweet ones on the dock, Anna, Joseph, Angel, Alie, Allison, & Dulce to name a few.

The Krio worship songs being sung on the dock echoed across the river as we pulled away and were escorted out of the Queen Elizabeth Quay to the Atlantic Ocean.

But it wasn't all fun and games on the ship yet. Now that we were acting like a boat, we had to do some things that boats do: like practice good safety. So, our fire drills became "at sea" drills - where you don't actually muster on the dock, but you go to deck seven, get your life jackets and practice boarding the life boats.

Even Baby Daniel (10 months) needs a life jacket, but which size is the best for him? Mommy and fellow Dutchy, Gerrit, scour the label for the right information.

The rescue boat teams also have work to do - inspecting, doing practice drills and making sure they are in full working order in case an emergency arises.

With the safety drills out of the way, the sailing fun could begin. One of the fun parts of the sail is that the bow is opened up for the public- this became a great place to watch for sealife and explore a new part of the ship.

Even our Gateway girls (the ones who aren't going home for Christmas) had time for a goofy photo!

Savannah with buddies, Caroline & Megan

And the view is impressive, though not too dynamic. Several days of this, with rocking back and forth (like you're in a ferris wheel car) gives your stomach a little run for its money.

And while some of us get to play, it's serious business for the technical crew onboard- FINALLY! they must say, they are able to do the jobs they are trained to do. The ship is out to sea and they can put into practice their training. Here Ryan is scanning the horizon - pirate watch, sealife, other vessels - anything seen is of importance to us.

Highlight of the trip? The sealife of course.

Some departments continue business as usual (we still eat, we still make a mess, still spend money, and we still have crew coming and going so the galley, dining room, crew services, finance, and HR, to name a few, continue on in the same manner as at port). But nurses and most hospital crew are reassigned to help in these departments so you get to see many new faces doing different jobs.

And we rock and roll up and down throughout the day and the night.

Our view for five days looked like this.

And this.

One eventful day of the sail was our bunkering. This is an old term from the days that ships would receive coal and it would go into ther bunkers. This term is still used today, though liquid fuel is delivered. We met up with our bunkering vessel in the middle of the sea.

What could have been a dangerous process of securing two ships together at sea, went without a hitch and though we did have to wait for a fishing vessel to refuel before we received our turn, all went well.

After staying in one spot for nearly 21 hours, we were on our way again.

And while we rocked and rolled a good portion of the time, other mornings were gorgeously still, like this one.

Then, Thursday morning - other ships came into sight as we approached the Tema port in Ghana.

The pilot boat came out to greet us and much to our relief, we did not have to go to anchor first (from what we have heard this is an exceptionally rocky time for this ship), but they were able to escort us directly to our berth space.

And again we are greeted by curious fisherman in the port.

This port is massive and quite modern compared to what we have seen in Freetown the past ten months.

And we look on eagerly for what our time here in Ghana will hold.

Standing on the dock is our entire Advance Team, a department that works specifically in setting up the outreach prior to the ship's arrival. They have to arrange for the logistics of the port documentation, water, trash, bank arrangements (imagine 300+ people ready to enter the local economy), delivery of fresh produce (again for 300+ people), travel visas, etc. Most of this team is working currently in Togo, also with the hiring of the day workers for our field service that starts next month, as well as working with the Ministry of Health to come to an understanding on what we will offer in exchange for what they will help us to accomplish.

Many of this team left in October or November so it was a breath of fresh air to see their friendly & familiar faces waiting on the dock for us- singing praises, welcoming us (Akwaaba!) to Ghana.

And for Ernest, and other crew members, it is a welcome home, as this is the first time the Africa Mercy is in his home nation of Ghana. He is proud to be able to show his country where he works and what we accomplish onboard.

And we are excited to see what Ghana has to offer!

Preparing to Leave

2011-12-04T07:37:00.000-08:00

Saying goodbye isn’t the hard part, it’s what we leave behind that’s tough.

This is getting more and more real here. You'd think with the years of experience of saying goodbyes (end of camp, end of school, moving from state to state), that it would get easier. And in some ways it does. I know in the bottom of my "knower" that the pain will ease and those faces that I see so frequently now will become a warm memory in my digital scrapbooks - a fleeting shimmer of love as I see their faces flip through rolling desktop background on the computer.

But that's also what makes it hard. I don't WANT them to become just a nice warm fuzzy. I care deeply for each of these faces - for our day workers that we have worked side by side with for so many months. I know we'll meet new faces next month, but I really like the faces I see here.

For all the darlings at Cheshire Home who have burrowed their way deep into my heart. I want to be able to pop over and have a little impromptu dance party while they make fun of my white rhythmic challenge, and tease my inability to speak more than small-small Krio.

Patients that you have cuddled, snuggled, cried with, and seen transform by leaps and bounds that depart for their villages hours away, without even a mobile phone number to locate them again.

In a way I believe these goodbyes are harder because we don't have the false promise of shared technology and convenience to make us believe that this isn't a final goodbye. Let me explain myself:
In America, UK, Canada (all those developed nations we call home), we live with the idea that we can control situations. "I'll earn the money, and come visit you again." "I'll call you on my cell phone, I'll send you an instant message, I'll drop you an email, I'll Skype with you, and of course this isn't the end." We innocently believe this, trusting that we are in control of all these situations (finances, health, life) and for the most part it pans out.

These West African goodbyes seem more indefinite. Some here in Sierra Leone have email accounts, but I have yet to meet anyone who has internet connection at their home. The children at Cheshire laughed when I asked if they had email or facebook. There is no organized mail system here that would guarantee something arriving beyond the Freetown Post Office. Mobile phone numbers change at the drop of a hat (all plans are pay as you go, voice mail on the phones is not standard).

So, I'm trying to engrave in my heart the lessons I've learned from these precious ones:

Contentment in the midst of lack of resources.
Joy despite poverty.
Generosity even with the little.
Persistent love and appreciation.

While the goodbyes aren't easy, it is definitely what we leave behind that is tough.

Celebration and Goodbyes - A Week of Everything

2011-11-26T02:20:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a full, emotional week.

As we come to a close here in Sierra Leone, we have so many mixed feelings. It's hard to think about saying goodbye to this beautiful country- full of fun loving people, ready to Tell Papa God Tenki at any moment, singing acapella no matter what your voice might sound like, and willing to give when their pockets are empty. We've met countless patients, caregivers, day workers and neighbors that we have come to love.

But, the clock is ticking and our days here in Freetown are limited. So, we must say thanks. Last week we hosted a Thank You Event for all officials and "big-wigs" that have partnered with us to make this field service so successful. This includes the Ministry of Health, directors of other organizations, doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, bank leaders, and the many others that have helped. They have provided free berth space for us at the port, trash removal, fresh water, and mostly partnership.

As you can see, the Stewards Departments (Hospitality, Galley & Dining Room) put on an elaborate, beautiful spread of food and make it a very special event.

Many of these workers have been in the hospital during the duration of this field service, but now will reassign to departments such as hospitality (preparing the rooms for guests and crew), dining room (serving the food), galley (cooking the food), or crew services (cleaning the ship) since all the patients have been discharged from the hospital.

Wednesday night was CONFIRMATION & BAPTISM night. Five girls at the Cheshire Home made the decision this year to go through the confirmation class at Bishop Crowther Anglican Church, their home church (within walking/rolling distance from the home). We were privileged to not only be invited to be a part of this special evening, but four of us were asked to be Godparents for them. We also helped them with the purchase of their fabric for white dresses, veils (requirement from the church) and stockings.

There were 18 students in the class all together so we were thrilled to see Cheshire representing almost a third of the class.

our goddaughter, Kadiatu ("Kadie") Christiana ,

Kadiatu doing the Gospel reading

Marie after receiving her candle representing Christ's light in her life,

Kadija, receiving her confirmation Bible,

Samantha following baptism.

Here's the entire class with the Bishop

Here are the five girls from Cheshire and their "opoto" (white) godmommies

And here's the whole gang that got dressed up and came from Cheshire to support these girls. It was a night full of emotion.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving (as you know), and our Food Services departments worked hard to make it special for us. As you can see, it looks pretty close to an American Thanksgiving plate. No sweet potatoes with marshmellows or pumpkin pie, but we had just about everything else.

And today, we had our Day Worker Thank You Event - what an afternoon of celebrating what God has done and how many lives have been changed during this year. It was truly a special afternoon filled with authentic worship as we thanked God for providing these 200 amazing workers. For many, they don't know what the future holds. As this time comes to close, so does their reliable paycheck. In a country with an 85% unemployment rate, this has been a huge blessing for them this year. So, we join in prayer trusting that the Lord will meet their needs and open doors for them. We also bid farewell with tears as we recognize that many we will not see again. Working side by side, suffering, rejoicing, and sweating together, you come to love people in a deep way. We will miss these beautiful faces. But, we recognize this is part of what we signed up for: lots of hellos, lots of goodbyes, constant change, constant choices of having to open your heart up again and again.

Joseph and I - Joseph worked with the physiotherapy team. Joseph is hoping to attend a DTS in South Africa next year.

Jane, the screening coordinator, with her two day workers, Henry & Thomas who have assisted in the screening process all year- making trips upcountry every two weeks to pick up patients scheduled for surgeries - LONG hours, lots of work, hearts of gold.

Here are the day workers from Outpatients where Dan worked part of the year. Helping in this department isn't always fun- dressing changes, crying, yelling, and pain.

Dan with Idrissa, one of our friends who worked at the Hope Center. Idrissa shared with us stories of what his life looked like during the civil war and how he escaped by getting on a boat and heading to Guinea. Idrissa has a heart of gold and is planning on serving with us again next year.

Dan with Mark & Titus, two hospital day workers.

With 220 day workers invited to lunch, the lines were long, but there was plenty of rice, fried plaintains, beef with peanut sauce, spicy topping, onion stew, and black-eyed peas.

After speeches, worship, thank yous and prayers, we celebrated with ice cream before we bid farewell to these precious friends.

In the midst of all these goodbyes and closures this week, we also got word that our beloved Jake, our pound puppy that we got at the age of twelve weeks back in 1999, said goodbye to this world this week as well.

A stillshot from our video camera (prior to our digital camera) in 2001 of Baby Kylie & two-year old Jake

While we knew it was coming sooner or later, the reality that our farewells to him in December were the last ones on this side of eternity hit home. We are blessed to have had such a sweet doggy, and so thankful he had such a wonderful family caring for him these past 11 months as his body was giving out.

photo by AshleyRo Photography, taken Nov. 2011

So, it is from a place of emotional and physical exhaustion that I look forward to this weekend!

Church is Always an Adventure in Freetown

2011-11-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

This week I had to make a hard choice about where to attend church.

The children from Cheshire Home were doing their annual Thanksgiving Service at King Memorial United Methodist Church. Thanksgiving here has nothing to do with turkeys, Columbus, or pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving here means, "we are going to do a special presentation, we will had out offering envelopes for you, and you will fill them with money, and bring them to the front of the church while we sing, dance and clap."

By Friday evening I had received eight envelopes from children at Cheshire Home. This seems to be a very big deal. I have tried asking some of our local workers what the meaning is behind the envelopes - is there a competition? Do they keep track of who brings in the most about of money (the envelopes have always been numbered, and this time some of them have names of the children written on them)? Do they get punished if they don't return their issued envelopes? So far the issue remains unclear, but it seems that there is a lot of pressure to make sure your assigned envelopes come back full of cash.

Another option was to head back to Pastor Angel's church, Mercy Baptist in Mayenkeneh town. Today was a special Sunday as our friend, "Joseph" was getting baptized. Joseph was raised in the Fullah tribe, one that is 90% Muslim. He became a Christian several years ago through the influence and friendship of another Mercy Shipper from South Africa, a man named Henry. Joseph desires to serve the Lord and make His glory known, despite receiving death threats, unwanted visitors in his home, and being ex-communicated by his family.

In addition to Joseph making the decision to be baptized, five other church members had decided to be baptized this week as well.

But, I had already promised the kids from Cheshire I would be at their Thanksgiving, so to King Memorial I went.

Church was good- about 30 minutes by foot, the sweat was rolling down my forehead and my neck by the time I arrived (but I've learned to carry a handkerchief like all the locals for this). We sat in the balcony of this church that seats about 600. Well, I take that back. In America this church would seat about 400. In Sierra Leone, I think it would seat about 1000 if needed - you just make more room. You sit right on the skirt or coattails of the person next to you. The baby on the lap of the woman next to me this morning was touching my arm the whole service.

The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Koroma, read the Old Testament reading today! What a pleasant surprise. The children of Cheshire all had matching shirts made and they sang their choruses from their seats. The sermon was nice, the hymns were familiar, and the heat made it difficult to fight the gravitational pull on my eyelids. But, the grins that came from the front row as they saw our little "bright" (white) faces in the balcony made it all worth it.

"Disability is not the same as inability" is their motto (Mottos are very important to culture here. Every Sunday the church has a motto. Every school has a motto. Every organization has a motto). So true.

As I was leaving church, Mommy K. found me. This is Rugiatu Kamara, mother of Foday, Kadiatu, Haja, Salamatu, and Aisha. She is a Muslim woman who lives with her family of seven in a one room hut outside the perimeter fence of Cheshire Home. The father is around sometimes- I certainly don't see him all the time.

They sell nickel candies and plastic bags of water at the side of the oversized cemetery on Race Course Road (called so because of the proximity of the cemetery, and we are all on a "race to the grave," is the local explanation I have just received for the nomenclature.

Mommy K handed me Aisha and asked where the "lorry" was ("motor car," aka car), and I explained I arrived on foot. "Okay, let's go," she tells me and we head off - me carrying Aisha on my hip, and her walking empty handed. The children from Cheshire (including her three daughters) were being shuttled back to the home in a pick-up truck belonging to another foundation.

Rugiatu stopped at a stand along the way to buy three lollipops. I thought it was for her three daughters that sang that morning. but she handed them to me explaining they were for Kylie and Savannah.   Along the route I received many stares and comments while I carry this chocolate skinned precious baby. "You take this one, eh?" Trying to give away other people's children seems to be a popular event.

Halfway back to the ship, my sandal broke. The leather strap between my toes separated from the base of the flip flop making it impossible to wear. Immediately Rugiatu took it from me and gave me her own shoe. She walked on the sweltering blacktop, garbage, and broken glass with only one shoe on. I kept trying to give her shoe back but she insisted. Even when we got to the street where I turn off, she wouldn't let me give her back her shoe. Instead, she gave me the other one, put on my one functioning sandal (which was about three sizes too big for her) and set out for her home, two kilometers away, with her sweaty baby. She told me she'll get my sandal fixed by Tuesday when I head over to Cheshire Home next. I cajoled and begged but she would not relent. This was her way of saying thanks.

Thanks for what? What have I done do deserve this? A few used clothes we gave for her girls? A few dollars for medicine when Salamatu "Isatu" was sick? A million twirls of the jumprope for Kadie & Haja? A few hugs?  Is there any sacrifice in that? I didn't burn my feet for her. I didn't give beyond my means.

We have so much to learn about the sacrificial gift of Christ from the poor. Giving when it goes beyond our comfort.  Loving even when it's not convenient.

Where did I come from, and where am I going?

2011-11-13T11:36:00.000-08:00

This will be my first attempt at blogging. It has been a 10 month journey so far with Mercy Ships. It began with a question. You know, those little nagging things that should have an easy solution but are just a little elusive for you. I asked God, “What is the power of the Gospel?” As I look at our society and even myself I know there has to be more. When addiction rates, debt ratios, divorce rates and suicide are just as high in the church as outside of it, it raises more questions. How can the power of Jesus bring freedom and change to this world? How are people who are losing jobs, homes and family supposed to believe and find hope in a place that doesn’t really look any different? The first thing I felt was this: Do I look any different? It had to start with me. I have been involved in missions for 18 years now and thought to myself, “Sure, I’m different. I go around the world and serve my church.” As I worked deeper into this question it became apparent to both Tiff and I that we were supposed to take it a step further. If living for Jesus brings freedom from this world we should be free to follow anywhere. Was it true? Well, we had to sell cars, a boat and find people to rent our homes. We had to sell a lot of our “stuff”. Not to say it was easy but it is possible if you are willing. So, we started our journey.

We showed up to Gateway and I was prepared for starting and being a part of something exciting. I thought making the change and selling everything was the whole process. When we showed up in Texas we would “arrive” and then just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. I was sorely mistaken. This was just going to scratch the surface of what God has in store for me.

Gateway was a swirl of emotions for me. Some good, some bad. I was glad to have started and be somewhere I had no doubt I was supposed to be. I was frustrated that just about everything didn’t live up to my expectations. Classes weren't what I expected. Time off and people didn’t fit into my world view. My pride started getting hurt and I started to let bitterness creep in. I know this doesn’t sound like a very good missionary story and I should probably clarify that right now. I’m not sure I’m a “good missionary.” I am a man trying to seek out God’s will for my life and probably stumble more than I run and fall down more than I win.

After four weeks in Texas we left for Sierra Leone. Maybe I would “arrive” there. Maybe this would be the situation I was looking for. We packed up our family and headed overseas. Now, we have done this several times as a family and I look forward to the travel. It was a bit different though to head out and know that we had no return tickets. We were not planning on being back to the States for around 18 months!

We finally arrived and I started to get a LITTLE bit of a glimpse of the direction God had for me. We met amazing people as we started construction of the Hope Center. And were able to get a feel for life in the local culture. Power was intermittent. We had A/C shut off and we worked in the heat.

All of this time God was working on me. I was in Africa and I was “doing”. Would I stop there and let that be enough or would I continue to seek Him and see where he wanted me to go? I would like to say I always do, but I too must “choose this day whom I will serve.” Some days it was Jesus, some days it was Dan and his dumb pride and ego.

Seeing the ship arrive was probably one of the most profound moments in my life. As it was pulling up, the hope and joy that seemed to radiate once again confirmed that this is where we were supposed to be. Now you have read many stories of people we have been able to help and I am absolutely certain that because of the care we have given we have saved lives. Through it all the question before me is: “What is the power of the Gospel?” Right now I know it to be this: Plain and simple, it is the power of a testimony. It is the story of a life changed. A life becoming something different and better because of the power and grace that can only come from Jesus. I am trying to live that testimony. Each day I must choose to move forward. Some days I do better than others but I absolutely learn something every day. It is my choice to serve that can maybe change me into what God is wanting. It is this story and this change that can maybe bring hope to those around me. This is the power that can change our friends, family, communities and the world.

Just as a boy can show joy and have hope when his leg gets cut off, maybe we can learn to show the power of a Gospel that can actually change lives and bring hope to those around us.

While They Wait....

2011-11-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

What is the Hope Center?

The Hope Center is our off-the-ward housing for patients, pre and post-operation. Often our patients come from many hours away and aren't able to arrive the morning of the admission due to transportation scheduling.

So, they come early. Other times a patient isn't critical enough to be on the ward any more, but they have follow up appointments including dressing changes, x-rays, physical therapy and more. For those that live far away, it does not make sense to send them on their way home in between these visits. So, they stay.

While they wait they often feel well, and are looking for something to do.

This year it has been a blessing to have the Hope Center literally right up the street. As you exit the port, it is the first building on "Bad Boy Lane" (ominous, I know) aka Savage Square.

As often as we can, we try to go up to the Hope Center to spend some time with the patients and their family members. If anyone comes onboard for surgery under the age of 18, they must have a caregiver with them.

This past week we went to the Hope Center during "family night" as a great way for our girls to connect with what is happening, outside of school.

We held some kiddos, gave some hugs, and played some soccer.

Here are the girls with cousin Emily and Aminata, Sorie, Joseph, and Al Hasan

Today

2011-10-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last night as we were out on deck 8 observing what we thought was a normal sunset, we noticed that the sky was doing unusual things. I thought I’d share the various viewpoints that I captured over the course of 24 minutes.

Out the port side, we could see rain over near Lungi airport – and this massive head cloud – it was impressive.

Pretty soon the sky was swirling above us and it seemed we were in the eye of a storm.

Watching these form was a reminder of how small we are.

We are docked right where the river meets the sea and you can see all the currents changing and merging.

Indescribable.

At this point I was wondering if it’s possible for there to be tornadoes in Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, on the starboard side of the ship, the skies were gorgeous blue.

The sun was setting peacefully, with the storm trying to chase it.

Dust storm attacked on our dock, but notice all the blue sky!

On the other side of the ship, you can barely see anything beyond this little tug.

Sometimes there are not words to describe what you witness. This can be smiles or expressions, acts of kindness, acts of violence. But as I watched this beauty in the sky, I couldn’t help but stand in awe of the Creator of the Universe and be reminded that I am held safe in the palm of His hand.

Today I choose to follow You
Today I choose to give my “yes” to You Today I choose to hear your voice and live
Today I choose to follow You

As for me and my house we will serve You
As for me and my house we will spend our lives on You today
Wonderful counselor, everlasting father
Eternal King, Lord of Hosts, willingly we follow
I’ve had this song (by Brian Doerksen) stuck in my head for the past several days and it’s a firm reminder for me to participate in this great life we are given. I can CHOOSE to follow – choose to give my “yes,” choose to hear, choose to spend my life on Him, and do so willingly. He is a mighty, awesome God. I’m so grateful for this choice.

Pumpkin Carving in Africa??

2011-10-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

One of our most consistent fall traditions has always been carving pumpkins (and eating the roasted pumpkin seeds). So this fall we were growing a bit sad to imagine a fall without this event.

However, our grief was in vain!

Through our chandler (yes, yet another profession I have never heard before living on a ship - along with a steward, a bosun, and a purser!) we acquired a locally grown “pumpkin.”

It’s a bit different than our October pumpkins back home.

Green in flesh. VERY firm and hard to cut.

Bright on the insides though.

The girls were prepared for the stink- Kylie, especially, HATES the smell of slimy pumpkin innards, but this was a pleasant surprise.

It smelled a bit like a cross between honeydew (musk melon) and pumpkin. Quite nice.

The insides weren’t as slimy as usual – dryer and easier to separate from the seeds.

With out handy dandy knife and spoon we were able to rather easily clean it out.

Savannah was enjoying taking pictures every step of the process.

Here you can see that it’s not a stringy and wet as our pumpkins.

Kylie was thoroughly engaged in the whole process.

And Savannah couldn’t keep the camera away from herself…

Oh, one day I’ll have to post the thousands of photos I have like this one.

Voila! We have ourselves a Jack-o-lantern.

The seeds were tasty, the pumpkin was illuminated with a battery operated pillar candle, and we had a bit of familiar fall, in the midst of Sierra Leone!

Savannah Montana–Celebrate Like a Rockstar!

2011-10-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

This week our baby turned eight (sniff, sniff!). Can’t believe that she is so big.

Our little girl who loves playing babies.

Our little girl who can’t wait for ballet each week (back left).

Our little girl who is goofier than goofy- with a pretty goofy looking mouth right now too!

So shakes her booty any chance she has, rocks out to her Hannah Montana recorded pen, and asked for all things Hannah Montana on her wish list. So, we decided to celebrate her birthday rockstar style.

My cousin Emily helped me to Photo Shop this picture. There are definitely some limitations to celebrating a birthday on a ship in Africa. We don’t have access to movie theaters, roller rinks, bounce houses, zoos, or amusement parks to host these events.

But, what we do have is people. So, we pulled the people in to help us celebrate this one.

Come to lunch dressed like a rock star!

Here Emily is rocking in out like a star.

With some decorations and some announcements, you can be the real center of attention, even without a lot of stuff.

In the background you see Dan (though you may not recognize him), after ringing THE BELL. The bell in the dining room is the way to get everyone’s attention – usually for a birthday or some other type of announcement (“Trivia will be starting up again this Wednesday night in the cafe- form a team of four!” “Today we will honor the 50th Anniversary of Sierra Leone by singing the national anthem,” etc.).

While I cringe thinking about the bell being rung for me (which it was, anyway), Savannah pondered the night before her birthday, “I wonder who will ring the bell for me tomorrow…” She’s a natural rock star in the making.

With some decorations and a little fun, we were all rock stars for the day!

I think Juan just wanted a picture with a real life Hill Billy here.

Back in the cabin Savannah finally got to open her package from Nana & Grandpa.

Oh the excitement of new clothes, swimsuit and treats!

Fruit by the Foot!

What Rock Star doesn’t need a Justin Bieber shirt? There’s not really Bieber Fever here, but we have heard his songs on the radio – even at the beach. It’s a surreal moment when you are experience something like that.

Just yesterday a returning crew member arrived with a couple of packages from home for us, including an amazing care package from a friend with lots of party décor and accessories for Savannah’s friend birthday party which we’ll have in a couple of weeks. I’m sure another blog will be headed your way to give you a glimpse into that craziness!

One Year Since Our "YES"

2011-10-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

One year ago today the wheels were put into motion.

We got our official "YES" from Mercy Ships.
Yes, we have a family cabin for you.
Yes, we'd like you to be a part of our organization.
Yes, there is room in the academy for your children.

Yes, your life is about to change.

Yes, you need to figure out what to sell, what to keep, what to give, what to pack.
Yes, you need to prepare your mind, heart and soul for living in Africa.
Yes, you are saying "no" to a self-regulated paycheck.

Yes, you are stepping out in faith that God will meet all your needs.

Yes, you are a crazy and doing something the world says is nuts.

Yes, I will be with you.

Yes, this is part of My plan.

I'm so thankful for this YES.

Pictures Paint Better Words

2011-10-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

I’m thinking about what is familiar to me this week. And I’m realizing that what is familiar- what is normal for us – would seem quite foreign to you. We have spent more than seven months here in Sierra Leone acclimating to what is common here. This post will give you a glimpse into some of those norms.

Signs of all sorts are written on all the trucks, poda podas (mini-buses) and taxis.

Most signs tend to be of a religious nature, “God bless Islam,” “The Lord is my Shepherd,” etc.

Even the chair in our bedroom at the hostel carried a slogan.

And everyone, who is anyone, has a giant sticker of Madonna, from the mid 1980s. (see upper left corner).

The emergency hospital, run by the French, has this notice about bringing your own blood.

This notice was on the door of the hostel where we stayed in February, threatening the management to pay the outstanding balance (the exchange rate is about 4300 leones to the dollar, so you can do the math).

All sorts of signs are posted on the streets

Stopping AIDS

Warning about the dangers of diarrhea (or diarrhoea for my non American friends).

If you like your taxi or poda-poda driver, copy down his phone number (it’s usually written in pen on the back of his window visor.

Suleiman is a great driver we know.

Look for piggies amongst the sewage in any of the rivers or rivulets that run into the city, and eventually into the bay.

You will see just about anything on top of someone’s head.

Fresh produce- some from in country, others that have just arrived on shipping containers from India (eggs) or South Africa (apples) or elsewhere.

All sorts of used clothing for sale – “junks” – used items from overseas. They come presorted in 50 kilogram bundles – shoes, women’s capris, white t-shirts, crocs, lingerie, sheets, towels… I’m still wondering where the clearinghouse is for this?

You don’t need to really “go” shopping, because the shopping comes to you. Maybe you want a coconut? (25 cents) Maybe you want just a bite of coconut (4 cents).

Maybe you want some ground nuts (peanuts)? You’ll just have to “psssst” for the vendor and get her away from the movie playing at the video store.

The heat & humidity make it hard to resist a cat nap whenever business is slow, as these tailors have found.

Most babies from age 4 months on are po-po’ed. This is tied onto the back of the mamas with a piece of fabric. The babies on the ward don’t like to be held like we would hold them in America- but tie them on your back, and they are content (and often will fall asleep). The little girls will po-po their dollies here too starting at the youngest age. (And yes, most of the dollies here are plastic, white dolls with blond hair.

Wherever there is a bucket and water, there will be a shower.

Where you can catch a ride, you do.

Where you can lend a hand (or maybe fetch a free bag of rice), you do. (And don’t forget that Obama is African, you know! He’s a celebrity here – you can get Obama whitey-tighties, backpacks, socks, shirts, belts, etc.)

A local soccer stand.

Watching gravel being made by hand brings a whole new appreciation to the prices we pay.

Moss will grow wherever it can.

Anyone and (almost) everyone has a cell phone and buys top up minutes to pay as they go.

The crowds don’t scare off the locals- you learn to listen for the car beeps, back up with just enough room for them to squeak by your toes, and keep moving.

It’s a hard, hard working nation- people not afraid to do manual labor, break into a sweat, and push their bodies to the limit in order to survive and provide for themselves or their families.

Houses are made out of a variety of substances – pieces of aluminum, tarpulins, plastic sheeting are common fillers.

Clay and thatch huts are seen in the outlying areas or near the beach communities.

After a day of heavy rain, we saw several accidents alongside the road, including this Star Beer transport truck that had tipped. Many people were willing to “help” with the cleanup of the crates.

Rain or shine, the vendors sell and buy their wares.

Need a custom made bedroom set, a pillar, or a giant steel gate? You can find one for sale along the road here.

Clothing varies from traditional West African, to “western” (not cowboys and indians, but what we think of as modern clothing). All African clothing is custom tailored so you don’t see many duplicates (though sometimes whole groups will get the same outfits made – sisters, youth clubs, all the ushers in a church).

At the beach we’ve seen lots of out of ~~the~~ our ordinary sights as well. For instance, did you know there was a Hard Rock in Sierra Leone? (Actually, there are millions)…. just at least one that happens to be labeled.

Want barracuda? Just a minute….

The fresh catch is now in!

The scenery is stunning. This is at Lakka Beach,

Bureh Beach,

And John Obey (aka Obama Beach).

And then there’s the port life. We live in the middle of a port.

Out our cabin’s window, we see this.

Or this.

We’ve got some neighbors without much.

And other neighbors that are loaded.

Some days are pretty murky,

And others are pretty spectacular. This is a look at our norm.

Osman goes to Sierra Leone Amputee Soccer Club Practice!

2011-09-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

So, for some time now we have been wanting to get Osman (click if you need a refresher on Osman's story) to see the national amputee soccer club play.

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

We first started hearing about the team when we arrived, and then a photographer from the ship posted some pictures of them playing and we knew we needed to see them in action.

Their schedule has been a little less consistent because of rainy season, but this week we finally made all the connections.

First stop: pick up Osman and his uncle (serving as his care giver) at the Hope Center, and head to the practice fields.

Along the way we saw some beautiful scenery- this country is breathtaking – as well as some typical signs that I tried to capture on film.

Osman was warmly greeted by the team who had not met him before, but were happy to show off their skills and give Osman a picture of how amputation has not meant an end of the sport that is almost larger than life here.

We arrived at the same time as some of the last players (who were making better time than most of the traffic, while they made there way with two crutches and one foot along the road – who knows how many miles they had to travel on foot.

Immediately the drills began. First a sort of rhythmic march between two sets of orange cones. I’m not sure which words to use to describe a march with only one foot. It was more of click, stomp, click, stomp. The click being the crutches, then a swing of their bodies and then the single foot launching them several feet forward again. I don’t think I would have been able to keep up at their normal cadence, let alone when they did “Super training” and picked up the pace to a full on sprint. I would have ended up in a jumbled pile on the ground, but no one lost control during this part.

Next came the balance drills. One on one chicken fighting- slam dancing to see if you can knock your opponent over. Laughter rang out across the dirt field as they tried to get the best of one another.

They divided into blue versus green and the battle began. Those who were missing an arm could serve as goalies. The rest of the players were on crutches and had one ~~good~~ AMAZING leg. They all used crutches with the arm holds (which Osman has been refusing to try because he thinks they are harder- I think he’ll be singing a different tune from now on).

There was no gentleness about this game. It was an all-out battle for victory as they knocked each other down, sent the ball rocketing into the elephant grass (to be retrieved by the neighbor boys), and didn’t even stop play for their water breaks- squeeze a bag of water into your mouth, on your head, and keep on playing.
I wanted to soak it all in. I wanted to sit down with each player and learn their story. Their youngest player is 12, their oldest is 35. These are survivors of civil war. I would imagine most of their limbs were taken at the hands of a fellow Sierra Leonean. Maybe someone they knew. Maybe a stranger. I didn’t want to leave.
We asked if we could get a “snap” (a photo) of the team with Osman, and not only did they want to honor that, but they sang a celebration song to us and Mercy Ships.
There was no fan fare here- no street meat for sale or boiled peanut vendors – just hard work, sweat, and lives that have pushed through incredible hardship and come out victorious. The team has competed worldwide and has even won their World Cup beating Brazil. Their next trip is to Ghana. You can read more about it, and the documentary, Leone Stars, that has been made about them (and won an award at the TIFF film festival – no relations) on the film's blog: http://leonestars.blogspot.com/

ps- I don't know if you can view these photos- so please let me know if it doesn't work to use Skydrive- I know on the ship here I can't view them!

It takes a village…

2011-09-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Much like we would on a sunny February day in Minnesota, we smiled brightly this morning seeing a reprieve from the rains and grey clouds and headed to the beach. Rainy season began in May and most days don’t go by without rain. But, today looked promising. We loaded up a Land Rover and navigated the roads that have become holier and holier since we got here. Pot holes, that is. The rainy season has done a number on the streets and to drive without four-wheel drive here would be quite the challenge (and painful to your car repair bills).
As soon as we got out of the car at Lakka Beach, Savannah spotted these “shy” plants. She and Kylie had seen them earlier this summer on a field trip with the other kids, so she recognized them and showed them to us. Watch what the leaves do when touched….

Cool, huh?

Next we were greeted with green coconuts. Being thrown from the sky. We looked at this giant palm and wondered how the fruits were falling so suddenly.

We’re talking a GIANT tree.

Notice anything unusual about this tree? Say, like a small boy at the top?? Talent I tell you.

We took a walk hoping to find some shells, but instead came across one of my favorite phenomena at the beach: the bringing in of the fishing nets.
Twice a day the village sends a huge net out – a canoe is used to spread the net out in a semi-circle 500 meters from shore. After being out there for a few hours, it’s time to bring in the nets.

This is not a one-person job. The entire community comes together. The young, the old. The women and the men. Everyone joins in and uses their strength to pull in the nets. In the nets is dinner. Income. Livelihood. Purpose.

There’s even a rhythm keeper. His job is to “beep,” and keep time.

Once the net is in, whatever you take is yours. I asked “who gets the fish? Will there be an argument?” and the local man answered me, “No, we all share. Here it belongs to all of us.” The sense of communal living is incredibly strong in West Africa. You aren’t as much an individual as you are a part of a group. Clubs, societies, denominations, neighborhoods – all of these ways of being a part of something bigger is of extreme value here.

Hard to tell, but this net is pulsing with it’s fresh catch trying to flip to freedom. Fish of all sizes were wrapped up here – from two inches to 20.

So everyone comes with their plastic bowl. And takes what they need. They will chop up and put it in spicy sauce as a rice topping, or smoke it and sell it in the market.

Only the loose scales will be left on the beach (and those will wash out with the next wave).

Savannah, almost age 8, with her teeth growing in!

Kylie, 10 for a few more months, sporting her new shorter hair!

Dan, showing off some spiny lobsters (that he had nothing to do with, other than watching the extremely ripped man carry them onshore in a giant crate on top of his head). He’s hoping to do a night dive in a couple of weeks and catch some himself. There will definitely be a blog about that if it happens!

And they became his tasty lunch.

A Typical Week

2011-09-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

What does our week look like? Well, sort of like yours, I suppose. Here's a run down of what we do during a "typical" week:

The girls go to school from 8:00 to 3:20 each day. We do get to join them for lunch in the dining hall. Most days we eat together as a family- some days they sit at a “two-top” with a friend for a lunch date. They kiss us goodbye after lunch and skip off to the second half of school. Sunday evenings they have Bible club (run by the middle-schoolers), Tuesdays they have hand bells, Wednesdays Savannah has piano lessons, Thursdays running club will start in two weeks, Fridays will be ballet, and all the other moments they are doing homework or finishing chores so they can play with their friends.

Typical play dates include: building forts (the steel walls and ceilings make for great forts since you can hold blankets up with magnets at whatever angle you’d like), playing babies, looking for fun pictures on the computer, swimming, riding pedal cars or playing on the jungle gym on deck 8.

My day begins most mornings at 6:00 in order to beat the sun for a “cooler” run outside. I pick up breakfast for the family in the dining room, wake up the girls, have devotions with them, and make sure everyone gets out the door.

Dan and I start work at 8:00, except on Mondays when we attend the weekly communication meeting from 7:45-8:15 where we say hello and goodbye to crew coming and going that week, ask any questions, find out news, and get on the same page for the week.

Dan’s work includes coordinating the transportation of patients that need to arrive from upcountry or out of country, providing advice, support, and management to several departments (admissions, outpatients, palliative care, infant feeding program, screening team, and rehabilitation). He is also helping to spearhead a quality assurance program within the hospital to track infection rates and identify and deal with problems in a timely manner.

On top of this, he is the dive team leader and works hand in hand with the captain to make sure that the water flow into the vents isn’t jeopardized by trash or debris in the water. He dives twice a week (thanks to their cage inventions, this is a much reduced schedule from earlier this spring) – usually on Mondays and Fridays. Work finishes at 5:00 on most days, but he carries two pagers and leads the Emergency Medical Team so there’s always the chance of after-hours & weekend work.

“Do you work everywhere?” is the question I am asked the most. No, not everywhere. Four days a week I am helping with hospital administration- updating the daily roster of patients and care givers at the hope center, adding waitlisted patients to our appropriate lists, updating the database, helping in the pharmacy by counting pills or entering data. The other day I spend as an assistant for the HR department. I work on special projects as requested by the manager- sending our staff reviews that come due, follow up on missing paperwork, generate reports of how many nationalities are on board, calculating length of stay for crew members, etc. This week I have also been filling in with the sales department as they have an injured crew member, so you could have also found me at the ship shop or in the snack bar ringing up your purchases, or restocking the shelves.

Our evenings are just as full: One evening we host a small group in our cabin. Two to three times a week I try to get over to Cheshire Home to visit with the kids or help them get ready and transport them to church. Wednesday nights we purpose to have FAMILY NIGHT and just spend with the four of us (five, now that cousin Emily is here!). Thursday evenings we have community meeting – an all-crew gathering with worship, prayer and teaching.

In our off time, we try to visit the patients in the hope center, get to the beach, cheer on our soccer team, work on learning French via Rosetta Stone, socialize, clean, launder, exercise, correspond, and connect.

The Pain of Living Life Together

2011-09-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Community. It's a great word, isn't it? It sounds so inviting and together. I mean, "unity" is built right into the word, so it must give you warm fuzzies all the time, right? Currently there are about 370 crew members living on the ship. In addition to this we have another 194 employees who live in the Freetown area who come onboard to work with us. So, in a ship that is 499 feet long, this means there is not much time or space to find yourself alone.

In addition to this, part of the beauty (and pain) of living in community is that your life is shared with others. You know the excitement (who got engaged last weekend? You're going where for your vacation? You are extending your stay?), and you also feel the pain.

We've experienced some of the normal pain of saying goodbye to those whose time on the ship has come to a close. With new crew members arriving and departing nearly daily, goodbyes are inevitable.

The more painful moments though, are when we share in the loss with crew members. And it seems to come in waves (as I'm sure you've noticed in your life). This week we are joining in prayer with several of our crew as they are suffering. Don Stephens, the founder of Mercy Ships, was in an ATV/four-wheeler accident with his son last weekend. For nearly twelve hours they were pinned underneath the four-wheeler. Both are in (separate) hospitals in Colorado being treated. At nearly the same time we heard of a sudden and tragic loss of life of the mother of another crew member who has been here with us since this spring. The following day the brother of another crew member was in a severe bicycle accident at home and was put on life support. An OR nurse was diagnosed with gall stones and needed to return home to the US for surgery. And this happened in the course of four days.

So, we feel the pain of these friends. And while at times it seems a heavy burden, we are grateful to be able to stand together with them and share the load so they don't have to carry it all. We ask that you would join us in lifting up our fellow teammates in prayer. I don't think it's a coincidence that we are bringing "hope and healing," and those are the areas that seem to be under attack in the lives of those working with Mercy Ships. Lord, may you be glorified in the midst of suffering.

Let’s take a look in the academy…

2011-09-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

This week Mercy Ships Academy had an open house to give parents (and the rest of the crew) a chance to see what is happening in the classrooms.

This is always a fun time of games, quiz shows, and students showing off their best work.

Here’s Savannah’s demonstration of primary and secondary colors.

In her third grade class, they had made laminated globes with continents and oceans that were velcro-ed into place. Savannah beat her best time of 30 seconds assemblying the whole Earth, beating our Canadian buddy, Jeff, by a couple of minutes! Even her new classmate Caroline couldn’t help joining in the laughter.

Here’s Savannah and her teacher, Miss Rebekah. Only complaint?

Miss Rebekah is highly allergic to chocolate. No packaging with chocolate in it can be opened in her presence. Savannah will have to wait until she’s safely in the confines of our cabin before she has a chocolate snack.

In Kylie’s class they were having fun with their new technology: a document camera. You can see Theo’s hand being projected onto the screen. With a document camera you can analyze student work together as a class – just like an overhead projector, but it works on papers too, not just transparencies! (and as a teacher, your hands don’t come home covered in vis-à-vis marker! Oh the things they create!)

Here’s Kylie with Miss Angie. You may recognize Miss Angie as she was Savannah’s second grade teacher last year. This year she moved up to the combined fourth and fifth grade.

In the “Big Room” we have the student library, in addition to their computer lab, and science lab. Here we were checking out microscopic samples including an ant, an onion skin, and cells from the inside of Andre’s cheek. The ant was terrifying!!

New to the school this year is a French program, being taught by a French-speaking Swiss woman who grew up in an Anglophone home (her parents spoke English). She is teaching all grades starting with kindergarten French! The girls have come home rattling off poetry in French and practicing their verbs. At the open house they hosted France’s Weakest Link and had a showdown with the parents of French trivia. I was voted off third.

On the left is the preschool teacher, “next door neighbor,” and mom extraordinaire, Dara. On the right is the new second grade teacher, Miss Amy. Behind Kylie is our friend, Michelle, who is also teaching a drama class for the elementary students this year. The little guy’s introduction is coming next.

This is Xavier. He is the youngest child of Dara. Here he has been practicing writing in the shaving cream on the desk. He keeps the whole crew laughing.

This year the girls are both in a handbell choir, and Savannah is taking piano lessons. They have a student-run Bible club on Sundays. Kylie is still contemplating if she will take piano or not. Ballet will be starting up again soon, as will running club, and Kylie doesn’t want to overcommit.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Hot Dogs and Sculpey Clay

2011-08-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

In this crazy world where we are living, it's the little things that make a difference!

This weekend, our sales manager and friend, Jeff, has brought on a new feature: Hot Dogs!

Generally on the weekends we pack a sack lunch so the galley workers get a bit of a break. Bread, cheese, ham, pb & j are the standards.

But Jeff has decided to get wild and crazy and start offering another option!

This afternoon Dan and I worked the ship shop and café - I rang up the totals for drinks, chips, candy bars, and the hot dogs, while Dan operated the hot dog grilling machine.

These 50¢ treats were a hit. Anticipating selling 50 yesterday and 50 today, Jeff bought 100 of them, and organized with a local store for the delivery of hot dog buns. However, they sold out of 100 in the first fifteen minutes yesterday! He restocked the supply yesterday and we sold about 120 of them this lunchtime.

Variety is nice!

While we were working the cafe, cousin Emily was wowing the girls with her Sculpey clay talents. She had brought some as a gift to Kylie & Savannah upon her arrival last week, and today proved to be the perfect afternoon to work on their skills.

Here are some of Kylie's creations: a frog prince, a fruit basket, some beads and a cherry pie.

Savannah has some fairies, a dolphin and some other things (too small for me to identify)

Kylie was trying to hide from the camera, but to no avail (she also has shorter hair thanks to Jillian, our new hair stylist onboard)

Cousin Emily makes a beautiful dolphin sculpture as well- though hard to see the details here. :)

Savannah with her new big girl teeth growing in (and hopefully straightening out??) and her four missing teeth around the middle ones- watch this smile over the next few months- it's sure to be a work in progress. :)

And good friend Debra couldn't avoid the camera either. You don't have to look far to find Debra or other new friends near the girls.

So, here's a little look of our "normal" day off on the weekend. We have a coffee date with the new family from Sweden in a little while and hopefully will get a hike in to the University sometime this weekend too.

Toodles!

School is Back in Session!

2011-08-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it, but the girls have been back in school for nearly two weeks now!

After a short eight week break, Mercy Ships Academy is back in session.

Yes, in Africa, a fleece jacket is a necessity for the first day of school (when you live on an air-conditioned ship, anyway)

Kylie's class is the biggest in the school. Fourth and fifth grade is a combined class and Miss Angie (Savannah's teacher from last year) moved up to the challenge. There are two girls and five boys to keep her on her toes.

Savannah went from being one of two students last year, to one of four this year - including another GIRL who joined their class today, so she is a happy camper. Her teacher is from the US and other than an allergy to chocolate (no, seriously), has brought a lot of fun to the classroom already. The first few days it was just Savannah and Miss Rebekah, so they had some good bonding already.

To kick off the season, we were able to attend the annual African Mercy Independent Film Festival this week. The whole evening was a lot of fun. Kids, families and singles submitted films that had to be five minutes or less, and include the written or spoken phrase, "it's a trap" and a bottle cap. The creativity on this ship knows no bounds. Everything from Bollywood musicals to Spanish/Italian telenovellas to plastic lizard animation graced the screen.

The girls got together with three of their friends and put together a story about a journey to the center of the earth.

The plot? They "wake up" at a sleepover and they've traveled to a crazy land- they fall down a big hole (the stairs in their sleeping bags), go off to find the escape home, and encounter the crazy GUMBALL HEADS who tell them "it's a trap" and give them a bottle cap. They rush out of there, fall down the stairs and wake up for real. When their mom wakes them, they realize they've had the same crazy "dream" about the Gumball Heads and head off to school. At school their teacher tells us they are going to learn about the Center of the Earth (which rocks their world), and then in Kylie's pocket, she finds....a bottle cap.... (dun, dun, dunhhhhhh).

Complete with lots of laughing outtakes, it won the prize of Cutest Film.

The paparazzi was busy snapping photos of everyone dressed to the nines (one of few occasions to put on something other than capris and flip-flops).

The grand prize winner of the night was "So You Think You Can Dance," featuring many eligible bachelors (and Dan Bergman).... If I can figure out a way to link you to the videos, I will. Stay tuned...

What’s in a Name?

2011-07-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

Meet Tamba, Tamba, and Tamba.

Yes, all three of these guys are named Tamba. Remind you of a sitcom from the early 90s?

We joke about how many patients we have with the same name. Ibrahim, Idriss, Foday, Tamba, Sahr, Abu, Abdul, Hassan, and Mohamed will identify most of the boys you see. Kadie, Isatu, Memunatu, Mabinty, Aminata, Salimatu, Hawanatu, Fatmata and Fatu – holler these out, and you’re likely to find several females with those names.

Last names seem to be just as limited: Koroma, Kamara, Conteh, Sesay, Kanneh, Jalloh, Tarawally, and Coker and you have most of the country. Imagine what this does with a database when you have 12 patients named Mohamed Sesay??

This past week we met Augustine at the beach.

Well, his name is Tamba – Augustine is his baptismal name. We asked him why so many people are named Tamba and finally got some reasoning for it. He said that in his home area of Kono (the district in the far northeast, known for their diamonds), your birth order determines your name.

(for reference, Freetown is located in the Western Area Urban district- identified with a number one on the map).

According to Tamba (Augustine), these are the names for your children according to birth order.

MALES
the first born is: Sahr.
second is Tamba
third is Komba
fourth is Aiah
fifth son is Kai
sixth son is Mani
seventh is Sundu

For girls, the name for the first is Sia.
second girl is Kumba
third girl is Yeah (love it!)
fourth girl is Finda
fifth is Bondu
sixth is Sundu
and the last baby (girl or boy) is Bama.

While Tamba (Augustine) was telling us this, we asked what his brother’s name is. And (to no surprise), it was Komba (third born). What goes unsaid is that there was a child born before Tamba, a boy, named Sahr. He confirmed that Sahr had died as a baby or small child. With an infant mortality rate of 7.8 deaths out of every 100 births (compared to 6.06 out of every 1000 in the US), (Source: CIA World Factbook) Sierra Leonean moms and dads can't really afford to spend nine months dreaming and creating a name into which they deposit all their hopes and dreams for the future.

So, while Jacob, Aiden, Madison, and Emma may top the charts in the west with several thousand other names creatively being invented, Sahr, Tamba, Sia and Kumba are still topping the charts in Kono, Sierra Leone.

On a side note:

Back in Freetown, our friends Kadie and Haja (girls who go to school on the Cheshire Home site, but live in a little roughed in building outside the compound), had another addition to their family last week. Baby girl was born on the 17th of July. We met her that Tuesday looking as perfect as can be. When asked what the name was, mom said that she didn't have a name yet- she would be named on Sunday, following the Muslim custom of daughters being named on the seventh day. So, we met "Aisha" this past week. We are praying for health and life in this family.

Mrs. Kamara with her (at least) sixth child, Aisha.

Kadie (left), neighboring toddler (in wig), neighbor girl in center, Haja (right),
with baby sister Aisha and Mommy in back. One little sister and two brothers are missing from the photo.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go…. (When You’re Not in Control)

2011-07-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

This week we’ve been blessed to have my parents (aka Grandma & Grandpa) with us. We’ve visited our stomping grounds of Cheshire Home, the Cotton Tree downtown where the first freed slaves gathered after being brought to Freetown, the agricultural center, the Hope Center, the wards, and the beach. The beach isn’t quite so “beachy” in the middle of rainy season, however, but still the beauty of Sierra Leone can take my breath away.

with grandma & grandpa at Bureh Beach, in the rain

As I sit in the hut I have time to ponder what God has done in our lives over the past two years since Dan felt the nudging by God to “go to Africa,” and I eagerly accepted the challenge (having felt that same nudging some 16 years earlier). I remember that it’s not what I can do, but rather what God is doing through us. This week I was struck by the simplicity of this response and it echoed in the devotional by Henry & Richard Blackaby, in “Experiencing God Day-By-Day:”

God’s Initiatives

Now the Lord had said to Abram,

‘Get out of your country, From your family

And from your father’s house. To a land that I will show you.’

Genesis 12:1

The most dramatic changes in your life will come from God’s initiative, not yours. The people God used mightily in Scripture were all ordinary people to whom He gave divine assignments that they never could have initiated. The Lord often took them by surprise for they were not seeking significant mandates from God. Even so, He saw their hearts, and He knew they were trustworthy.

The Lord spoke to Abram when He was beginning to build a nation dedicated to His purposes. Through this nation would come the Savior. God appeared to Moses at the very time He had purposed to deliver Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God found in Jesse’s youngest son David a godly man who could lead His people. God surprised Mary when He told her she would be the mother of the Messiah. God’s Son selected the twelve disciples, all ordinary, uneducated men, when He was ready to take the good news of His salvation to the world. Through the ages God has taken the initiative in the everyday lives of people to accomplish things through them that they never could have imagined.

The Lord may be initiating some new things in your life. When He tells you what His plans are, trust Him and walk closely with Him. Don’t let the busyness of your present activity keep you from experiencing all that God has in store for you. You will see Him accomplish things through your life that you never dreamed were possible.

I see this played out in our lives. This was not our own initiative, but a response to what the Lord was doing in our hearts. We are DEFINITELY ordinary! I have been certainly caught off guard by all that God wanted to do in and through us during this time of preparation. And now that we are here- in this country far away from family, in a land that we definitely needed to be shown, we are blessed to see the ways that God chooses to use us in responding to his purposes. I’m grateful for the heavy sense from the Lord to not brush this idea aside and call it CRAZY TALK. The busyness of life easily could have swallowed it up. Thank you, Jesus, for being persistent. Thank you for encouraging us through the hard processes of downsizing, saying goodbyes, fundraising, and letting go of our own agendas. It was definitely worth the effort.

Agriculture Program : Food for Life

2011-07-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

This morning we attended the graduation ceremony of 16 students. These students have been working with Jean-Claude and Anastasie, a Mercy Shipper couple that are from Brazzaville, Congo. For the past several years they have worked with students onshore training in sustainable and organic agriculture.

Tracy (left) is the Off-Ships Manager, Jean Claude in the middle, and Anastasie on the far right – sorry! She is cut in half!!

Nearly 60 of us journeyed an hour inland to the site of the graduation.

Dulce forgot to read the memo that says we should dress up, so she borrowed this fancy head wrap from one of her local friends attending the ceremony.

The festivities kicked off with song and this banner by the Women’s Empowerment and Self-Development Association.

The seating was crowded as everyone came out from the nearby villages to celebrate with us.

We worshipped and sang together praising the Lord for what He had taught the students.

The students reiterated what Jean-Claude and Anastasie have taught them:

God was the first farmer. Look at the forests as an example of how he mulches, uses nutrients from other plants, and uses the insects to do the work that we try to replicate with chemicals.

Prepare the land WITHOUT burning it and destroying the nutrients. They learned how to pair crops that benefit each other – six rows of corn can be supported by the nitrogen in three rows of ground nut (peanut). Onions and garlic plants work as insecticides when planted around other plants. There are 16 elements a plant needs – they learned which materials can provide those elements in making compost for the plants. The benefits of mulch for maintaining moisture and preventing weeds and grass from growing was also reinforced.

Along with their certificates,

Each of the 16 students who graduated was given a wheelbarrow, starter seeds, hoe, shovel, and all they need to be able to recreate this training back in their own communities.

Daniel, one of the new friends we made today.

Tracy with the leader of Heifer International, Sierra Leone, one of our partner organizations for the agriculture project.

These little boys from the village came out to check out the commotion.

After the ceremony we headed over to the site to check out the fruits of the last 16 weeks of labor.

Three rows of ground nut (peanuts) provide the nitrogen in the soil needed to support six rows of corn.

They also provided some examples of urban gardening – ways to be creative even when you don’t have a big plot of land. These cucumbers were planted four weeks ago.

Aubergine (aka Eggplant)

Jean-Claude explains the reasoning (and wisdom) behind these raised beds that don’t collect destructive insects.